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The beginning.

The Luxury of Being Skint

17/8/2013

26 Comments

 
I’m skint, and I have been for about four years. But it wasn’t always this way. Before 2009 I was flush. I waltzed about the city of Antalya throwing money left, right and centre like confetti. I nibbled on absurdly priced pastries in top-notch restaurants. And I terrorized the streets of Turkey in a spanking new Toyota Yaris. Oh it was the highlife and I wouldn’t deny it, I loved it.

And then, as often happens in life, one day it all disappeared. How it disappeared is not the issue. We are usually curious about downturns in other people’s luck because we think if we uncover the ‘mistake’ the other made, we can safeguard ourselves from the same fate. But safeguarding isn’t the point here. Because what we’re so often safeguarding against is the best thing that could happen to us. So I’ll say it again. I was prosperous before. It was fun. And now I’m skint. And do you know what? It’s better than being flush.

Picture
When you're skint, you never throw anything away.
Skint is a fantastic word, often to be heard scudding through the dulcet vowel tones of my native Essex vernacular. It’s a variant of ‘skinned’, referring to the condition of not having money, and it is precise in its meaning. This meaning is important, because skint is not poor. Though you’d think, from the way we have been educated, that moneylessness and poverty were one and the same thing.

Poverty is a scourge that has little to do with your bank balance. There is cultural poverty, emotional poverty, material poverty, intellectual poverty and perhaps most detrimental of all, poverty of the imagination. It’s a state of privation and a mindset of neediness, dark and thwarting in its suffocation.

Losing money made me realize that I could never really be poor, for the simple fact I am already inherently rich. We all are.The idea that we desperately need money has created a deep poverty of spirit, and the advertising industry, with its empty obsessions, has turned our imaginations and self confidence to slush.

I earn on average less than 200 pounds a month from editing and stone painting. I have no car, no iphone, no Dolce and Gabbana handbag. I live in a mud hut up a mountain. Well . . . only when it rains. Apart from that I sleep under the stars, and recline on second-hand armchairs in the forest. This isn't a stance of moral or ecological one upmanship. It's a preference. It’s true I have worked for money, and that money has bought me my land. But by peeling away the layers and layers of the unnecessary, I have somehow, almost inadvertently stumbled into the life of my dreams. I no longer experience the lurching dread of Monday mornings, there is no seven am panic, I take an hour or more to eat breakfast, I have no boss.

But let me get it straight. I’m not judging all that money can buy as bad. And to have no money at all, or to be deprived of the basic resources is a desperate state of affairs. But let's be honest, those necessities are things like clean water, air, food and shelter, not a car or a new pair of shoes. Not that I'm exhorting the world to suddenly give up their cars. I've spent years loving driving and only sold mine last month. I'm merely pointing out, the car is a preference, not a need. And the moment you no longer have one, that becomes obvious.

Money, when it works, is a useful exchange system (though there are others that are fairer and don’t involve banks), and there is a certain pleasure to be derived from some of the merchandise it can procure. Even so, money is not all that it’s cracked up to be, and acquiring the stuff can prove far more painful than the experience of living without it. Which brings me back to why I actually prefer being skint. Because I've woken up (a little late some might say) to the severely unadvertised fact that there are many things that only moneylessness can buy.
 
Picture Still managing to dive.
So, just for the record, here it is; a list of some of the benefits of being wonderfully, gloriously, luxuriously skint:

1. You don't get ripped off when you’re skint. Fraudsters know you're an empty vessel, so they steer well clear. Burglars are apathetic as well. You can leave your door unlocked, because there’s naff all to lock up.

2. You soon learn who your friends are. And believe me you DO have friends who like you for more than what they can squeeze out of you. It’s comforting to know you are worth more than your status symbols and the 'prestige' of your career.

3. You have nothing to lose. That’s liberating.

4. You become extremely creative as your imagination starts to burn on all thrusters.

5. You stop throwing things away. This is both good for your soul and the environment.

6. You make ‘downgrades’ which often prove to be upgrades. I sold my car and bought a motorbike instead. I cannot tell you how much I love the feel of the wind in my hair as I roar along the country lanes.

7. You engage in bank free, money free exchanges. I  scuba dive as often as I want all summer long thanks to an exchange deal with my local dive centre. Everybody wins. They get a free helping hand for the busiest three weeks of the year and I get free dives.

8. You slow down and watch the flowers grow. Money and earning it often seems to involve a lot of haste. Things take longer without heaps of cash  . . . but who cares? It’s not a race, is it?

9. The best bit about being skint is that soon enough you learn to live on very little, which means you no longer have to work all the hours to 'survive'. With all that free time you can explore any number of hobbies that don’t require money, things like: Creating your own blog and waffling to your heart's content on it, tree climbing, philosophizing on the meaning of life,  Armenian reed flute playing, Oolong tea drinking, Stargazing, Anatolian lace making, wine distillery, playing chess, Ludo or I spy, trainspotting, planning revolutions, ricotta cheese making, Bagua zhang or Indian stick fighting, squirrel and tortoise watching, potion creation from wild herbs, and a whole host of other things the morons on TV think are ‘uncool’ (YAWN), but those of us who actually have a personality and more than a breadcrumb of intelligence can find deeply engaging.

10. You can even create a kitchen spending almost no money at all. If you're wondering about that take a look at Building for Free.


Picture
My kitchen cost about 150 pounds sterling to make. Even when you're skint you can build.
26 Comments
brian link
21/9/2013 01:52:24 am

I just recently found your website & I just finished reading " the luxury of being skint", you are an exceptional writer, your style is very appealing to the mind, keep up the posts & let the world know what a life of luxury a skint girl has! I wish you will.

Reply
Kerry
21/9/2013 01:23:03 pm

Cheers for your comments Brian!

Reply
Tarihira
20/10/2013 11:13:32 pm

I so wholeheartedly agree with you - richness in living and loving life is definitely an attitude.
You might be skint, but you are living the life of abundance.and prosperity.

Reply
Kerry
21/10/2013 11:50:43 am

:) Thanks Tarihira.

Reply
Léontine
2/6/2014 11:30:08 am

Hi Kerry,
What an inspiring read! And how lovely it was meeting you this week - Paula just forwarded your website and I'll continue reading and enjoying it. Take care, hug from Holland

Reply
Kerry
6/6/2014 04:07:50 am

Thanks Leontine!

Reply
Tim
11/3/2015 06:28:49 pm

Kerry, I have to say, I came across this website looking for information related to earthbag homes, and not only did I find a ton of useful information about the construction of your Mud home, but I've also become enthrealled with your blog. And I'm enjoying reading every bit of it.

Thank you so much for sharing this part of your life and your thoughts with the world. I, for one, certainly appreciate it :-)

Reply
Tim
11/3/2015 06:29:50 pm

Enthralled*

Reply
Kery link
12/3/2015 05:50:18 am

Cheers Tim, I really appreciate that.

another tim
17/1/2016 07:58:13 pm

Yes - I agree with, well, Tim. The Other Tim. Enjoying the website very much - thanks ! You once mentioned possible travel to Spain ( didn't you ? Oh, help...). If you need a base in Andalucia, near Ronda, we have a largely empty village house and small farm that you and other skint blog readers are all very welcome to stay in. Free. The commons of the skint...
Atulya - a typical name in some parts of Essex no doubt...
cheers
tim

Reply
Atulya
17/1/2016 08:24:11 pm

He he he Other Tim, yes I am still itching for a Spain/Portugal trip. I'm intending it this year, so let's see if I can make it happen. Thanks for the commons of the skint offer.

Reply
Friedhelm
7/2/2016 06:24:54 pm

Your entire outlook on life is commendable, if only the majority would see it as you do. . . . nice blog. :-)

Reply
Atulya
7/2/2016 07:47:32 pm

Thanks Friedhelm!

Reply
Ben
6/6/2016 02:28:40 pm

Hi, so I love your book. It's been a huge help. I'm a diving instructor and I live in the Dominican Republic and I just bought 3 aces of beautiful land. The plan is to build an Eco lodge, I want to teach people about permaculture on the farm and it's gonna be a school of natural building as all the rooms are gonna be made from cob and earthbag houses. So I found your book last month and just wanted to say it's been such a big help, Iv got a group of volunteers helping me build and Iv got them all reading it. Haha this life style beats living in Essex huh? :)
Thanks again,

Reply
Atulya
6/6/2016 10:11:50 pm

Thank you so much Ben! Really appreciate that feedback. Ha ha, yes it certainly does beat that stretch of urban disaster commonly referred to as the A12:)) Love diving too. It's another world down there. So peaceful.

Reply
Andrew
29/8/2016 12:13:43 pm

Hi there, so, I have been doing research on "going Eco" for a while now and came across this blog during my feasibility studies. I have become slightly obsessed with visiting here and have learned so much from you guys, so thank you for an entertaining and educating blog site. English is also not my first language (so please excuse what "spell check") doesn't pick up and I am a bit of a "techno dinosaur" (in fact I would never have found you had it not been for my extremely patient 15 year old daughter. so thanks to a very user friendly site also. I am pretty excited to go ahead with this project that has consumed my waking hours for the past few months. I do, however, have a host of questions that I'm not sure would fit in here in this little box thing. Could I send an e-mail thingy or something to ask further questions? Or maybe you could just guide me to places on your site where the answers already are but my electronic capabilities have failed to find. Please let me know if you can help, I did include my address details (I think?) Or you could please be so kind as to respond here and I will check daily for your answer - Thank you in advance - Andrew

Reply
Atulya
29/8/2016 02:42:55 pm

Send me an email Andrew and I'll point you to the relevant blog pages. atulyakbingham@gmail.com I'm super busy right now so it may take a few days to reply (no team or guys here, just a one woman show).

Reply
Joyce Johnson
12/10/2017 04:22:13 am

Love your blog. You write so beautifully. If I could roll my odometer back 50 years I would build myself a mud house. So beautiful and practial. But I can not so I will have to tag along with you on you blog.

Reply
Atulys
15/10/2017 10:36:02 pm

Oh thank you Joyce! Tag along by all means:)

Reply
Sandi Berumen
25/10/2017 07:03:02 pm

Hi there -- can not believe I missed this blog. Living skint, only the English would come up with that, but it is what it is. lol. I see that you posted this back in 2013 originally.

I think the only thing I would worry about with item 5 would be the problem of hording. You have to throw a few things away.

But yes, not owing money and doing with what you have or what you can scrounge are liberating. Though sometimes we can get pulled back into the "keeping up with the Joneses" thing.

I know that when I am able I will be selling, selling, selling and getting myself back to where everything I own will fit in my abode again. I can not help remembering when I left for college -- everything I owned fit in the trunk of my car in a steamer trunk. That was truly liberating. Right now I think everything I am responsible for would fit into two 40 ft. semis. I look at all the stuff and shake my head and wonder how it all grew so much once again. I think because there was a house involved. Of course it was the compiling of two households, my friends and mine and let me tell you, she was, in fact, a hoarder of worst magnitude, and now, lucky me, I get to deal with it. I keep telling myself one step at a time, one day at a time. Sifting, sorting, selling -- ugh is all I can say.

Reply
Atulya
28/10/2017 01:47:41 pm

Hahaha, yes the Brits have a thing about "frugality":))

You are so right about the hoarding issue. It was another one of those dilemmas. I was about to build a third shed for my 'stuff' when it dawned on me, that if two weren't enough, I'd probably better start getting rid of a few bits:)) But on the other hand, I LOVED being able to look in there and find just anything I needed. And then I moved into my van. And that was that! No more room for hoarding.

Reply
Dave
14/1/2018 08:45:34 am

I have just read your article on living doing. Sadly, it has taken me a long time to realise the joy of not having EVERYTHING. I'm now on pension so my options in terms of physical exertion are limited, but I've learned so much from being less flush with cash!

Reply
Atulya
5/5/2018 11:18:01 am

Yes, it's weird how limitations can push open new doors.

Reply
Judith
5/5/2018 09:31:19 am

Wow... you write so good!! I really love it. My english is not that good, I learn a lot of new words from you.
And what a great summary of why it is actually good to be skint... Very ( ...mmmm...) accurate, aware, backed up by real life experience.... Everybody should read this.
Lately I think a lot about the "Model citizenship" so many people are aiming for. I try to detox from the model citizenship brainwashing. Your blog is a great resource for this. Keep it coming!!!

Reply
Atulya
5/5/2018 11:18:56 am

Thanks Judith! Lovely to hear that feedback.

Reply
Brent
7/1/2022 05:00:24 pm

Learning the Armenian reed flute, eh? I wonder if you are familiar with the work of Kudsi Erguner. I like his song Erenler and actually that whole album "Under the Plane Tree."

Thanks for being an inspiration. I'm going through a pretty major transition right now and your cheerful writings are a wonderful counteractive to my anxieties.

Best wishes for 2022!

Reply



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    Atulya K Bingham

    Back in 2011, I found myself camping alone on a remote Turkish hill. There was no power or water on the land. It was the start of an adventure that profoundly changed my beliefs about what is enjoyable, or possible...

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